Numbering-machine.



A. H. SMITH.

NUMBERING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED 0cT.23. 1914,

1 ,QU,89 3 Patented Sept. 25, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

$ 2! Inven tor:

A. H. SMITH.

NUMBERING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED ocr. 23. m4.

lawman Patented Sept. 25,1917.

0 3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

Atty M Inventor:

A. H. SMITH.

NUMBERING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED ocr. 23, 1914.

Patentedsept 25, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

, unis mos E. SMITH, or ew YORK, 1v. r, assIonoa T0 AMERICAN AN A ooRroRA'rro v or NEW YORK.

NOTE COMPANY,

NU BERING-MACHINE;

ea er p c io 6f Letters Patent Patented Sept. 25, 1917.

Application filed October 23, 1914. Serial No. 868,301.

To all whom it may concern: i

Be it known that I, Amos H, SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing the borough of Bronx, city of New York, county of Bronx, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful, Improvements in Numbering-Machines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,iwhich form a part thereof. 1 i a Hy invention relates to numbering ma; chines and more particularly to l a type thereof adapted to print numbers upon sheets, and to be-power-driven.

a In numbering printed sheets of paper, especially those having bank notes printed thereon; it is necessary toprint correspond? ing numbersupon both sides of the printed sheet. Heretofore with bank notes as well. as other kinds of work, it has been customary to number only one side of the sheet at a time. By my invention,- I provide a machine capable of printingnumbers uponboth sides of a sheet of paper at a single run of the sheet throughthe: machine, the machine being so constructed thattheloperation of the elements of each couple will be accuratelytimed astoeach other, and succeed ing couples will be so driven as to facilitate the reversal of the sheet and insure substantial equality in the speed of thedifferent couples in order to secure continuity in the operation of the machine.

lVhilein a machine :made in accordance with my invention, one of the platen cylinders, in addition to cooperating with its numbering head element, performs the fune ,tion of a collecting or delivery. cylinder and a reversing cylinder, 1 so construct the machine that the printing couple, of which this impression cylinder is a member, may be rendered. inoperative for printing purposes without, however, affecting the other operative effects ofsaid impression cylinder, In order to insure the properjlaying of a sheet of paper uponthe second impression cylin- Cll,;Wl1BIl transferringa sheet thereto from the first cylinder, and during the reversal of the paper, I provide means whereby said cylinderswill be always driven at a uniform peripheral speed, while affording that slight play between the gears. upon ,each impression cylinder and upon the numbering headelement cooperating therewith necessary by reason of those slight fluctuations in the speed of the printingelement and the impressionelement of a printing couple due to variances in the diainetersof these elements by reason of wear upon or variances in the thicknessof the blankets used upon theimpression cylinder. I also provide conven iently accessible means whereby when the power is cut off, the movement of the parts under momentum, may be arrested to pre- Vent loss in the progression ofthe numbers through the actuation of the numbering heads when no sheet has been fed to the ma chine. I also providemeans whereby the printing elements of each couple may be independently adjusted circumferentially, to insure accu 'acy in the positioning of' the numbers upon each face of the printed sheet.

My invention consists primarily in a numboring machine embodying therein two successively operative drums each adapted to carry a printing surface or printing surfaces, two successively operative in'ipression cylinders each cooperating with the printing surface or surfaces upon a drum, means whereby a sheet is transferred from one cylinder tofthe other and is reversed while being transferred, means adapted to receive each printed sheet upon its delivery from the second of said cylinders, and means whereby power is applied to said impression cylinders, and through said imprcssi on cylinders, to their associated drums respectively;

and in such other novel features of construction and combination of parts as are hereinafter set forth and described and more particularly pointed out in the claimshere to appended.

Referring to the drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of a numbering machine embodying my invention, portions of the said frame being broken away; p

Fig. 2 is anend view thereof;

b Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic showing of the machine; y i

Fig. dis a detail view of the supporting and shifting mechanism of the second numbering drum; and i Fig. 5 is a detail view of the gripper mechanism by means of which a sheet is transferred from one impression cylinder to the other except as to the actuating 1nechanism for the fingers.

Like letters refer to like parts. throughout the several views.

In the accompanying drawings, 1 have indicated the side frames of the machine by the numerals 1 and :2, said side frames carrying all of the operative parts of the machine.

Mounted between said frames are two printing Couples with their appurtenances, the first of which is adapted to number one side of a sheet of paper and the other of which is adapted to number the other side thereof. These printing couples are so asso ciated that they not only will be driven in synchronism, but will, when the sheet in process is passing from one printing couple to the other, reverse the sheet so as to bring the desired face thereof toward theprinting element of the succeedingprintingicouple. l

The printing couple first operative upon the sheet comprises an ordinary numbering drum 3 adapted to receive a numbering head, or numbering heads, in the-usual manner; and associatedtherewith is an inking mechanism a; and an impact supporting rod 5 adapted for use when it is desired to turn each digit wheel of the numbering head more than once during each-rotation of the drum 3. Said couple also, includes therein the impression cylinder 6.

Adjacent this printing couple is an ordinary feed shelf 7 from which the sheets are fed thereto. The second couple comprises the numbering head drum 8 with its inking mechanism 9 and impact supporting rod 10, and an impression roller 11 arranged adjacent theimpression roller 6,'but spaced away therefrom sufficiently to avoid any pressure upon the paper when transferring from one impression roller to the other. I

The numbering drums or printing elements of each couple are so arranged as to afford a suflicient interval of time before the reversing of the sheet, or the deliverythere- I of'to prevent off-setting or smudging of the imprint by reason of contact with the impression cylinderll or the collecting mechanism.

Associated with the impression cylinder 11 is a collecting or delivery mechanism, the purpose of which is to not only remove the numbered sheets from the machine, but to make it impossiblefor a sheet, through adhesion to the cylinder 11, to be carried upon said cylinder during more than one rotation thereof. As to the delivery of the sheet from the first printing couple, the impression cylinder 11 forms a part of the delivery mechanism, and is operated at all times whether the numbers are being printed upon one or both sides of the machine.

The delivery mechanism comprises a plurality of tapes 12 passed about the cylinder 11 and about the rollers 18, the upper reach Each of the impression cylinders 6 and 11 is provided with a gripper mechanism, the fingers of which are operated in the usual. manner to open and close same for receiving the sheet and for opening same to permit the delivery of the sheet. This mechanism, however, differs from the ordinary gripper mechanism in that it is necessary to provide a special structure to facilitate the transfer of the sheet from thesurface of one impression cylinder to the surface of the other impression cylinder, which at the time is moving in the same direction. To secure this result, I provide each cylinder with a plurality of fixed -gripper fingers having a reduced area against which thegripper fingers are adapted to press, both impression cylinders being provided v-with clearance along the'surface thereof-adjacent said'fingers. By staggering the fixed gripper fingers and fingers upon the cylinder 6 with relation to those upon the cylinder 11, and simultaneously opening-the fingers, said fingers, when the fixed gripper fingers of one cylinder are in alinement with the fixed gripper fingers upon the other cylinder, will overlap each other and the paper will be permitted to drop from the fixed gripper fingers upon one cylinder to the" fixed gripper fingers upon the other cylinder, where they will be engaged by the gripper fingers upon the last named cylinder. The gripper fingers upon the cylinder 6 are indicated by the reference numeral17, the" cooperating fixed gripper fingers by 18 and the gripper fingers upon the cylinder 11 by the numeral 19 and the cooperating fixed gripper fingers bythe'numeral 20, It will be obse'rvedlthat by this construction, the transfer of the sheet from the cylinder 6 to the cylinder'll: may be readily effected and that the fingers17.

will not interfere in any way with the transfer of the sheet because of the fact that after The manner ofefiecting the transfer of a sheet from the cylinder 6 to the cylinder 11 makes it essential that there shall be substantially no play or lost motion in the mechanism through which these gears are 1:240 ,eee

driven, in order to insure absolute synchronism in the rotary movement of both cylinders. At the same time, it may be necessary to provide for slight play in the gear'connection between each impression cylinder and its printing cylinder and to permit adjustment ofthe printing cylinder toward and from the impression cylinder to com pensate for the unavoidable variances in .the diameters of these two cylinders. Any difference in the peripheral velocities of the cylinders 6 and 11 would have the effect of disturbing the position of the sheet upon the cylinderb and as the forward edge of the sheet may be transferred during a period whenother portions of the sheet are being printed, it is apparent that any feeding movement of the sheet must be avoided.

r I secure the desired result by a particular form of driving mechanism which I will now describe. At 21 I have shownthe main power shaft of the machine carrying the gear 22 of large diameter and deriving power from the pinion 23 which in turn may be driven from anysource of power as an electric motor. 1 Carried upon the shaft 21 is a small gear 24in mesh with a large gear 25 carried by the shaft 26 of the cylinder 11. In mesh with the gear 25 is a similar gear27 carried by theshaft28 of the cylinder 6. The gears 25 and27 are sopmade as to have slight play, the main function of these gears being to impart the desired -rotary movement to the number head drums 3 and 8 through the gears 29 and carried by said drums respectively; While the gears 25, 27, '29 andBO form acomplete train, the desired accuracy in the rotary movement of the cylinders'tl and ill is secured by a pair of intermeshing gears 31 and 32 carried by the shafts 26 and 28, these gears being :of slightly larger diameter than the gears 25 and 27 and so fitted as *to insure substantial accuracy in the drive in the two cylinders 6 and 11'. Hence, the actual timing of the rotatio-nof thesecylinders is not dependent upon the gears 25 and 27, although the power used in rotating said gearsis transmitted through the former.

To facilitateaccuracy in the positioning ofthe various numbers upon. the sheet to be printed as to either, or both, sides thereof, Iso mount the drums 3 and 8 with rela-- disturbing the relation of the gear train. Furthermore, it will allow irregular and minute adjustment of either drum.

The drum 8 and its appurtenances, including the gear 80, are mounted upon a carriage 37 and slidab'le inways38 toward and away from the impression cylinder 11. Carried by the frame of the machine is a lever system, comprising the link .39 and the bell crank 40, by means of which said carriage 37 may be moved toward or away from the said cylinder 11. Said carriage is provided with the bolts e1 and so that when it is in operative position with the gear 30 in mesh with the gear 25, it may be clamped to place and thus avoid a loss of this relation which might result in the absence of, or a light, imprint during the run of the machine. By this construction when it is desired to number only one side of a sheet, the number drum 8 may be made inoperative without, however, affecting the operative efiect of the cylinder 11 or other parts of the machine. Hence the machine may be used to print upon either or both sides of a sheet as desired.

In numbering machines all of the numben ing heads are actuated one or more times with each rotation of the drum, so that it is desirable to provide means wlhereby the rotation of said drums may be quickly checked when through accident, or otherwise, no sheet has been fed to the machine. In the form of the invention shown, I mount upon the shaft 21 a brake wheel l3 adapted to be engaged by a brake shoe 44-. upon the foot lever 45 mounted upon the side frame when adjacent said wheel. The brake shoe 4A: is sufficiently heavy to drop by gravity away from the wheel as, the pin 45 serving to arrest movement of said bralre shoe when it is released from said wheel. The said brakeshoe is pivoted upon the lever 45 in a position conveniently accessible to the foot of the feeder.

Theoperation of the herein described machine is substantially as follows hen it is desired to number both sides of a printed sheet, the carriage 37 is brought up against the upper part of the main frame of the machine as shown in Fig. 1, and clamped .in this position by means of the bolts 41 and Eachuof the drums 3 and 8 has mounted thereon int-he desired relation to each other I a plurality of numbering heads. If it be found that the mimbering heads upon either drum are not so located as to cause the numbers to appear in the propel places upon.

a printedsheet, the bolts are loosened and 5:

:the :drums are turned slightly ineither direction. with relation to their gears and 30 until the proper adjustment of the numbering heads is secured. Nicety in this adjustment is necessary in high class work,

of each sheet being grasped by the gripper fingers 17 upon said impression cylinder and held by said fingers against the platens 19.

While it is practically impossible to secure absolute equality in the peripheral speeds of the numbering head drums and of the impression cylinders those slight varia tions present during the running of the machine, will be compensated for by the loose mesh between the gears 27 and 29, thus perr mitting the drum 8 and cylinder 6 to be rotated in part by said gears and in part by the frictional engagement of the numbering heads and the impression surface of said cylinders. x

As the gripper fingers 17 approach the upper vertical radius of the impression cylinder 11, said fingers will be raised out of contact with the fingers 1S and dropped in advance of and between the fingers 20 upon the impression cylinder 11. The gripper fingers 19 upon the impression cylinder 11 will have been substantially simultaneously raised so that a clear field is afforded for the forward edge of the sheet of paper to drop from its engagement with the fingers 18 upon the fingers 20 against which it will be almost instantly clamped by the descent of the fingers 19. It Will be observed that at this point when the upper vertical radius of the cylinder 11 is in substantial alinement with the lower vertical radius of the cylinder 6, the fingers 18 and 20 are in substantial alinement, although spaced apart sufiiciently to afford clearance therebetween. Furthermore, the fingers 18 and 20 of the cylinders 6 and 11 are moving in the same direction and at the same peripheral veloc ity. As a result of this condition the grip per fingers 17 will not interfere with the transfer of the sheet from the cylinder 6-to the cylinder 11 and there will be nostress upon the paper sheet which could resultin a movement of said sheet in eXcessof the peripheral speed of the cylinder 6. The clearance about the fingers 18 and 20 will permit the unobstructed movement of the fingers 17 and 1.9 and the divergence in the curved path of movement of these fingers after the transfer of the sheet has been effected, will obviate any possibility of the fingers 17 interfering with the sheetafter it has once been transferred.

It will be observed that the relation of the cylinders 6 and 11 is such that the act of transferring a sheet from the former to the latter will bring the numbered face thereon, or the outer face when upon the cylinder 6, toward the cylinder 11, and the reder, but also formsa part of a delivery mechanism by means of which the sheets of paper are carried from the cylinder 6 and delivered from the machine. The tapes 12 passing about the cylinder 11 over the rollers 15 and about the rollers 13 serve to both strip the printed sheets from the, cylinder 11 and deliver them to the roller15 by which they are dropped upon the collect ing plate or'shelf 16.. I i

If it be desired tonumberonly one side of a sheet, thelcar'riage 37 may be moved by means ofthe link 39and bell crank lever 40 away from the impression cylinder 11 sufiiciently to prevent the making of an impression by. the printing elements upon the drum or cylinder 8, this adjustment of the mechanism having absolutely no operative effect upon any other part of the machine than the said printing element 8. The impression cylinder 11 will operate in substantially the same manner whetheror not an impression is being made upon the reverse side of the sheet carried thereby;

'It is to be observed that while the teeth of the gears 25 and 27 must beso formed as to mesh loosely with each other and with the gears 29 and 30, the gearsBLand 32 carried by the shafts 26 and 28 are in close mesh so that the cylinders 6 and-11 will always have the same speed and the gripper mechanisms of thesetwo cylinders will always come to the same operative relation at the interval when the sheet is to be transferred fromone cylinder to the other; Slight fluctuations in the speeds of these cylinders would resultin inaccuracy in the transferring of the sheets with a corresponding in accuracy in the positioning of'the numbers upon succeeding sheets, and momentaryfluctuations in the speeds of these two cylinders might have the effect of: feeding or buckling the paper while, upon, and indepIendGently of the movement of,;the cyliner s A machine made in accordance with my invention is not limited to printing elements carrying numbers, as key marks or safety designs of various kinds are frequently used in lieu of numbers. e a

In case a sheet of paper is not fed each time the machine turns over, every numbering head upon both drums 3 and 8'would be advanced without producing sheets bearing the desired numbers. To avoid this condition, if possible, I provide the wheel brake mechanism 43, 44 and 45 so that after the power has been shut off, the running of the machine under momentum may be checked.

While in the accompanying drawings, I have shown the impression cylinder 8 as being positioned directly above the impression cylinder 11, this arrangement is not essential, it being merely necessary that one impression cylinder shall be positioned adjacent the other with that slight clearance between the surfaces thereof to avoid any possibility of the paper being pressed be tween these rollers. This arrangement insures the movement of the sheet, during the transfer operation, under the control of the gripper mechanism alone, thus eliminating all necessity for providing against variances in the diameters of the two impression cylinders. Substantial uniformity in the speed of rotation of the gripper mechanisms may be mechanically secured, but the diameters of the impression surfaces of the cylinders cannot be controlled with accuracy and is subject to gradual change from wear, pressure and other causes.

Throughout this specification where I have referred to a printing element, 1 have had in contemplation that member of a printing couple adapted to receive the actual printing surfaces.

While I have shown a mechanism wherein the sheets are fed by hand, it is apparent that any desired form of feed or feeding mechanism may be provided for without departing from the invention.

It is not my intention to limit the invention to the precise details of construction shown in the accompanying drawings, it

being apparent that such may be varied without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having described the invention what I claim as new and desire to have protected by Letters Patent is:

1. A numbering machine embodying therein two successively operative drums each adapted to carrying a printing surface or printing surfaces, two successively operative impression cylinders each cooperating with the printing surface or surfaces upon a drum, means whereby a sheet is transferred from one cylinder to the other and is reversed while being so transferred, means adapted to receive each printed sheet upon its delivery from the second of said cylinders, means whereby both of said impression cylinders are rotated at uniform speed, and cooperating means carried by said cylinders respectively and said drums having slight lost motion therein whereby variances in the diameters of said cylinders and said drums will be compensated for and said drums will be driven from said cylinders.

2. A numbering machine embodying therein two successively operative drums each adapted to carry a printing surface or printing surfaces, two successively operative impression cylinders each cooperating with the printing surface or surfaces upon a drum, means whereby a sheet is transferred from one cylinder to the other and is reversed while being so transferred, means adapted to receive each printed sheet upon its delivery from the second of said cylinders, close meshing gears rotatable with said cylinders, and cooperating loose mesh gears carried by said cylinders respectively and said drums respectively whereby slight lost motion is afforded between the cooperating gears upon each cylinder and each drum to compensate for variances in the diameters of said cylinders and said drums respectively.

3. A numbering machine embodying therein two successively operative drums each adapted to carry a printing surface or printing surfaces, two successively operative impression cylinders each cooperating with the printing surface or surfaces upon a drum, means whereby a sheet is transferred from one cylinder to the other and is reversed while being so transferred, means adapted to receive each printed sheet upon its delivery from the second of said cylinders, close meshing gears rotatable with said cylinders, cooperating loose mesh gears carried by said cylinders respectively and said drums respectively whereby slight lost motion is afforded between the cooperating gears upon each cylinder and each drum to compensate for variances in the diameters of said cylinders and said drums respectively, each of said gears carried by said drums having a segmental slot therein and means carried by said drums respectively and moving in said slot whereby said drums may be adjusted circumferentially in relation to said gears and may be locked in their adjusted position.

In witness whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 22nd day of October, 1914:.

AMOS H. SMITH.

Witnesses:

F. T. WENTWORTI-I, OLARIOE FRANCE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. (2. 

